The Big Numbers
The numbers have come in for From Parts Unknown #1, and they are better than anything I could have imagined. I am so happy with how it turned out.
I’m not going to bury the lede:
We got just under 5,000 orders.
To give you some context, that is gigantic for a person like myself. It’s less so for JP, because he’s been around and you can find his books on shelves all over the place.
But for myself, and a little bit for Daniel, we haven’t had too many published works through Pesto Comics.
What the heck is Pesto Comics? If you’re not into Kickstarter, you might not know. Typically, a book from a publisher like myself might get 1,200 copies. If you’re lucky, you get 1,500.
I was hoping for 3,000 orders in my most optimistic, moonshot dreams. We got 5,000. It’s absolutely wild.
Thank You
I just want to say thank you. Whether you follow the podcast, the Substack, or the YouTube channel—however you’re finding this—thank you.
I know you are a huge part of it. You are the ones who have been here through the years, the months, and the weeks.
You’ve listened to me yammer on about whatever’s on my mind while I try to impart some wisdom based on what I’ve learned.
You’ve been along for the ride with me. I have to say that last Tuesday was the highlight of my comics career thus far. Easily. Hands down.
It was absolutely incredible.
Career Highlight
I was in shambles that morning. I didn’t know how well it was going to do.
In my head, I thought we would just squeak by the minimum threshold for offset printing, which is a thousand copies. I thought, “Oh, we’re just barely going to make it.”
Then I started worrying about what that would mean for Issue #2, because typically there’s a drop-off. But we’ll worry about that when we get to it.
I was expecting the worst. It’s just my nature, I guess. I try to stay positive, but the intrusive thoughts find their way in.
I didn’t think we would do nearly as well as we did. Now, I have a different problem: “Wow, we did very well. How do I follow up on this?”
The Plan for 2026
It’s not a problem I have to worry about today, specifically. It’s something I have to worry about in the long run, but I’ve had a plan.
The plan has always been to have a book every month. From Parts Unknown #1 through #5, followed by Snip #1 through #5.
We’re well on track for that. Riccardo just delivered the pages for all of Issue #3. Issue #4 is coming soon. We’ll be well ahead of schedule.
The book will be completely done from end to end before the Kickstarter even launches. It will be ready by the time it hits shelves in the fall.
So, we’re good. We’re good for 2026.
The 2027 Challenge
2027 is a little more interesting. I am the bottleneck.
I am the reason things are moving—or in this case, not moving. Daniel has been waiting very patiently for two or three months now for the final scripts of Crimson Frontier.
They’re almost done. I’m putting the finishing touches on them, but he doesn’t have them yet. He hasn’t started drawing, and that needs to happen soon.
That needs to launch this spring in order for it to make it onto shelves next year. You can see already how the crunch is happening.
Release Schedule
I’m talking about 2027, and I feel like I have to get something done this week. It’s an interesting problem to have, but it means we’re here. We’re doing it.
It’s really happening. All these books are going to hit shelves. It’s going to be absolutely wonderful. I can’t wait.
April 29th is the day From Parts Unknown #1 goes on shelves. We follow that up every month after. June 3rd is when the second issue launches.
The reason for that is we wanted people to have the books on their shelves to see how Number #1 sells before they decide how much of Number #2 to order.
We’re trying to make it really easy for retailers. That’s a big thing.
I talk about this in depth on the Comic Industry Insiders podcast. I highly recommend checking that out. I come on around the 40-minute mark if you don’t want to listen to the whole thing.
But it’s well worth the full listen, especially if you like what I’ve been talking about. They get really in-depth with knowledge about the comic book industry.
Selling to the Direct Market
When you’re talking about making comics for the direct market, you have to think about the direct market.
Yes, you’re trying to sell to readers. You’re trying to make books that readers want to buy.
However, you need to sell it to the retailer first. The retailer needs to believe they can sell it to their customers.
That’s something I feel is missing in many conversations with indie creators. My tastes tend to be more “populist,” for lack of a better term.
I like the goofy stuff, the genre stuff, the pulp stuff. We’re called Pesto Comics for a reason.
Why Pesto Comics?
If you’ve never heard me explain the name, here is the silly reason: Pesto is a pulp. It’s a saucy pulp.
My initial idea was to call it “Pulp Comics,” but that was too generic. What was the closest thing I could do? Pesto.
Pesto Comics nods to my Italian heritage, it’s a bit silly, and the name was available everywhere.
But the idea behind it is that it’s pulp. These are things people can read, enjoy, and then move on with their lives.
I want stuff that resonates and sticks with people, but I also want stuff that sells. I want things people actually want to read.
I want to fill the gap for people who complain that “comics aren’t like this anymore.”
The Vision
I want people to just enjoy comic books. I want them to go to the shop, pick something up, and say, “That was fun.”
It’s not so much about my specific voice getting through. It’s about celebrating everything comics can do.
It’s about celebrating genre, silliness, and fun. I’m so happy that has resonated with everyone picking up the books.
Again, Issue #1 has done incredible, and I want to thank you guys for making that happen.
There’s been a lot of experimentation over the past few months. I was doing YouTube-focused videos, then shorts, then this and that.
Doubling Down
What I’m telling you here is: I’m not changing anything.
I’m going to continue doubling down on what’s working. And what’s working is me chatting with you every week about whatever’s on my mind.
I’ll continue posting the videos of my talking head so the YouTube audience has content, but the podcast will still be out there as well.
I’ll also continue doing shorts that are actually meant to be shorts, not just cut-up clips.
That’s just the marketing side. As far as the comics go, everything I said was coming is still coming.
I have multiple projects on the go, and I’m always talking to new artists about doing more. We are slowly expanding, but I’m being very measured about it.
I want to make sure we do this in a sustainable way. This is just the first issue. We don’t know how Issue #2 will go, or how the second series will go.
I’m staying pragmatic, but knowing we have your support gives me a lot more leeway to double down on what’s working.
Final Thanks
I wanted to celebrate these amazing numbers, talk about how great this week went, and thank you again.
I’m going to keep saying it and you’re going to get sick of it, but too bad: Thank you. Thank you for making this all happen.
It’s really you—the people here every week listening to me yammer on—who made this happen.
I appreciate you, and I’m going to do right by you. We’re going to have some amazing books out there.
There are so many plans I haven’t even shared yet, and I can’t wait to show you. Just know I’m going to do my absolute best.
I’m going to get people who are better than me to make these books even better than I could alone.
I’ll be back next week to talk about something entirely different. I don’t even know what yet, because I’m still wrapping my head around how incredible this has been.
Thanks again. I appreciate you. Talk to you next week.
